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Thursday, April 11, 2019

Erdogan Pressures Turkey's Key Electoral Body

By Elizabeth Teoman

Key Takeaway: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is intensifying his pressure on the Turkish Supreme Election Board after a humiliating setback for his party in Istanbul in the 2019 Turkish Local Election. The Turkish Supreme Election Board has thus far proved notably willing in this election to constrain Erdogan. It nonetheless remains susceptible to Erdogan’s influence and has previously issued questionable rulings that ultimately enabled his consolidation of power. Erdogan remains on a long-term trajectory to dominate the electoral apparatus of Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is intensifying his pressure on election authorities to overturn a humiliating loss in Istanbul in the 2019 Turkish Local Elections.
  • Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost the key urban centers of Istanbul and Ankara to the rival Republican People’s Party (CHP) following the 2019 Turkish Local Elections held on March 31. Erdogan is pursuing a dangerous course of action to press the Turkish Supreme Election Board to hold new elections in Istanbul.
  • Pro-Erdogan media outlets have escalated this public pressure campaign by publishing the images and names of individuals currently serving on the Turkish Supreme Election Board.
  • The Turkish Supreme Election Board postponed its next meeting to consider a potential new election in select districts of Istanbul on April 11. It has not set a new public deadline. The delay may be an outcome of the ongoing pressure from Erdogan and the AKP.
The Turkish Supreme Election Board likely retains some limited but narrow freedom of action to impose constraints on Erdogan.
  • The Turkish Supreme Elections Board validated the opposition victory in Ankara on April 8. It also denied the AKP’s request for a full recount in Istanbul on April 9.
  • The Turkish Supreme Election Board is composed of eleven members - six selected by the Supreme Court of Appeals and five selected by the Turkish Council of State. Members serve up to six-year terms. A simple majority validates its decisions. This system protects the body in part from undue external influence and manipulation.
The Turkish Supreme Election Board is nonetheless vulnerable to Erdogan, who has systematically enacted legislation to expand his influence over the body since 2017.
  • The Turkish Parliament approved a law centralizing control over provincial election committees responsive to the Turkish Supreme Election Board in November 2017.[1] The law centralized the appointment of chairpersons responsible for ballot boxes and established a less transparent ‘secret ballot’ to elect new members of the Turkish Supreme Election Board from the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals.
  • The Turkish Presidency issued a decree to remove political party representatives from the Turkish Supreme Election Board in March 2018. The decision effectively eliminated opposition oversight from the highest levels of the electoral process.
The Turkish Supreme Election Board has previously issued rulings of questionable legality in favor of Erdogan. It could be expected to do so again in Istanbul.
  • The Turkish Supreme Election Board validated the results of the 2018 Turkish Presidential and Parliamentary Elections despite widespread opposition allegations of fraud.[2] It rejected a petition to hold a pre-election rally by opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtas despite permitting similar events by Erdogan. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) released an interim report criticizing its unfair redistribution of fifty new parliament seats ahead of the election.
  • The Turkish Supreme Election Board also controversially issued a last-minute decision to accept ballots that lacked official stamps during the 2017 Turkish Constitutional Referendum. The referendum authorized enabled constitutional reforms that concentrated executive power under Erdogan. The OSCE condemned the ruling and stressed that the referendum “did not live up to … [the] standards” of a “genuine democratic process.”
Erdogan’s ongoing purge of the judiciary will further position him to increase his long-term control over the Turkish Supreme Election Board.
  • Erdogan has targeted and removed dissident judges throughout Turkey as part of his long-standing campaign against followers of Fethullah Gulen. These purges of civil servants intensified after the 2016 Turkish Coup Attempt, which Erdogan blamed on Gulen.
  • Erdogan’s AKP extended the terms of seven members of the Turkish Supreme Election Board through January 2020 in December 2018. Erdogan could still reverse these extensions to appoint new and more loyal members of the Turkish Judiciary.
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[1] [“YSK Law Passes Parliament,”] Hurriyet, November 30, 2017, http://www.hurriyet.com(.)tr/gundem/ysk-yasasi-meclisten-gecti-40663865.
[2] [“Latest: YSK Announces Results of 2018 Election,”] Hurriyet, July 4, 2018, http://www.hurriyet.com(.)tr/gundem/son-dakika-ysk-2018-kesin-secim-sonuclarini-acikladi-40886560.